Tag: berklee

Comprised of four vivacious, accomplished women, this dynamic and passionate band explores the musical textures of upbeat hard rock, emotional folk rock, and intricate progressive rock, creating the fresh sound that is Flight of Fire. Highly influenced by classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Journey, Rush, Heart and The Who, as well as modern rockers like Halestorm, Paramore, The Foo Fighters and Evanescence, Flight of Fire has varied inspiration contributing to their unique sound – rooted in time-tested rock with a fresh, modern flavor. Equipped with a dynamic lead vocalist, belting beautiful melodies with power and passion; identical twin sisters creating a harmony of electrifying guitar leads and gritty bass grooves; and a woman of mind-blowing rhythmic inspiration keeping the pocket tight, Flight of Fire is a force to be reckoned with. They have opened for Bon Jovi, The J. Giles Band, The Michael Allman Band, Fitz & The Tantrums, The Strumbellas, Joywave, Alestorm and Lita Ford. Their awards include: Winners of Limelight Magazine’s “Opening Act Contest” 2016, Winners of Radio 92.9 Earthfest Battle of the Bands 2016, Winner of Limelight Magazine Music Awards’ “Band of the Year” 2016, New England Music Awards’ “Last Band Standing” Boston Finalists 2015, Hard Rock Rising 2015 Boston City-Wide Champions and Winners of the 2013 Fox Rocks Bon Jovi Contest to Open For Bon Jovi At Ford Field, Detroit.

QWIMB sent Flight of Fire some questions about Boston and Queerness and here’s what they had to say:

What brought you to Boston?

Our lead singer, Maverick, and our guitarist and bassist, Tanya and Tia respectively, moved to Boston in 2009 to attend Berklee College of Music. Our drummer, Kat, is from Dracut, MA

Have you experienced a strong scene for Queer women in the city in terms of music/performers etc?

We’ve been inspired by so many of the amazing queer organizations in Boston! We’ve been involved with the Dyke March, both in their fundraisers and at the Dyke March itself, and our good friends Unstraight and Mad Femme Pride put on the badass Big Queer Show, which is always a great community of people!

Do you have any sense of a history of a Queer scene in the city?

We’re relatively new to the scene, so we can’t speak to Boston’s queer history as well as others could, but as newbies, we definitely feel that there’s been a strong queer musical community here for a while. We love volunteering for the Ladies Rock Camp Boston (& Girls Rock Campaign Boston), which, while not an exclusively queer movement, is certainly a feminist, empowering org that has been inspiring women to break barriers and make noise!

Flight of Fire

What made you decide to join a band?

We’ve been committed to music since we were little, writing songs, studying and performing as much as we could, which brought us eventually to Berklee! Once we were there, we shared a dream of forming an all-female rock band, and Flight of Fire was born.

Are there any artists that you look up to or who have inspired your own music?

We have been greatly inspired by bands such as Led Zeppelin, Rush and Heart in terms of their instrumental/musical prowess and variety. Lzzy Hale from Halestorm inspires us with her leadership skills as a woman in the modern rock industry.

Do think things are getting better for Queer performers or are there still barriers to overcome?

Both are true! Boston is one of the best places in the country to be a provocative person, and female queer musicians are breaking barriers just by being themselves! That being said, as an all-female band, we’ve received our share of persecution, from casual condescension and pigeonholing to outward harassment. There’s still hard work to be done.

What has been your proudest moment as a member of a band or as a musician in general?

A couple years back, we won a contest to open for Bon Jovi at Ford Field Stadium in Detroit, and that experience was one of the proudest and most motivating opportunities we’ve had!

What advice would you give to a woman thinking about starting a band or learning an instrument?

Do it! Don’t worry about being great, or even good. Just follow your inspiration. Don’t filter yourself too much – as women, especially queer women, we’re socialized to hold ourselves back every second of every day! Music and performance is about throwing off the status quo and disregarding anything that gets in the way of expressing your most powerful self.

Are there any other current or former bands or solo artists you would like to see featured by QWIMB?

Call Me Doxy is an angsty, feminist interpretation of classical motifs in a Cabaret coated, rock n’ roll context. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Call Me Doxy may be better described as the musical equivalent of an unlaced corset, or a cacophonously sultry orchestra of ne’er-do-wells. Prompted to action by misogynists everywhere, Call Me Doxy often explores (and dispels) the concepts of gender roles, sexuality, and empowerment with the combined musical forces of five unlikely partners in crime.

What brought you to Boston?

Initially, college. But good friends, good music, and the warmth of the Boston community have kept us (Call Me Doxy) here.

Have you experienced a strong scene for queer women in the city in terms of music/performers etc?

Yes, to a certain extent. Most people in Boston are incredibly welcoming and tolerant. That being said, I don’t personally feel like I have enough of an awareness of/connection with other queer musicians. I would like that to change. Our band has been playing together for a little over a year at this point, but we rarely play shows with fellow members of the queer community. We would love to play a stronger role in advocating for the freedom to express sexuality and gender in less binary ways: it’s a huge part of why we make the music we make.

What made you decide to start performing?

We share the same ideals and the same message: people are people. All of us have been pigeon-holed at one time or another because of our gender or sexuality. All of us (regardless of whether or not we all identify as queer) want to advocate for social change, feminism, and a heightened awareness of the way bigotry has crept into cultural normalcy (and how to stop that.) And it just so happens that all of us wanted to communicate this through classically influenced, cabaret-rock music.

What has been your proudest moment as a band?

Honestly, every moment we play together is the proudest moment. We rehearse twice a week, we play at least once a month, and yet the novelty of being able to share space with each other has yet to wear off. Just being in the same room as them makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy, it’s pretty gross.

What advice would you give to a queer woman thinking about starting a band or learning an instrument?

Do it. If you have the slightest inkling to do it, DO IT. Music should be music, regardless of your gender or sexuality. So do it. Worst case scenario, you’re learning something new. That’s a pretty innocuous worst case scenario.

Uh Huh Her came back to Boston on Saturday as a stop on their nationwide tour. They played the Brighton Music Hall (formerly Harper’s Ferry), which has been featuring some great shows lately, i.e. Wild Flag in March. This is a welcome change from the old club that featured college-themed reggae cover bands and hip-hop for suburbanites. Whoever is doing the booking over there has done nothing but make me happy since the change over.

Uh Huh Her features former Boston resident Camila Grey, a former Berklee student, and Leisha Hailey. Grey was a member of the band Mellowdrone and recently toured with Adam Lambert as a member of his backing band. Hailey was a member of the 90s group The Murmurs and its later reincarnation, Gush. They were joined on stage by a backing drummer and guitarist.

Most people are familiar with UHH’s first record Common Reaction, which was released in 2008. At that time, the band was caught up in a whirlwind of attention stemming from Hailey’s fame as a cast member of Showtime’s the L Word. The record is quite good, but sounds very produced. It has the big sound of a traditional electro-pop record and features a combination of darkness and catchy riffs. The musical talents of the duo were often overshadowed by the excitement of Hailey’s “celesbian” status. There are so few well-known out women that this fact is understandable, but it can be distracting and may be frustrating for the band. While this is true, they have never been anything but patient and accommodating to their many fans, which tells me they have hearts of gold, honestly. They even met with fans after the show to say hi and give autographs.

That said, the new EP they are touring with, Black and Blue, is a strong departure from the polished and pop-friendly first record. It is reminiscent of the concept albums bands were putting out in the 70s. For those too young to know, concept albums are usually guitar-fueled epics with lots of solos and rocking out. What is awesome about this is that so few women (I can’t name any) are responsible for such albums. Women are so often making records dominated by their vocal abilities and not their ability to rock out on guitar and keys. UHH certainly has vocal abilities and they utilize them, but there is something truly empowering about watching women rock out on stage. The EP somehow manages to be accessible to fans interested in more traditional arrangements and those folks (o.k. me) who wish to play air guitar in our bedroom mirrors.

Check out Uh Huh Her’s website to get the EP. A full-length should be released sometime soon with all new material.

Speaking of women who rock, I hope everyone who went to the show saw the opening band, Diamonds Under Fire.

Straightforward rock n’ roll with just enough attitude. They were so awesome I didn’t care that the drummer kept talking about Philly while he was playing in Boston. There hasn’t been enough women in rock since the 90s riot grrl scene and Diamonds Under Fire is a welcome departure from the polished, pop-rock we’ve been subjected to for too long.